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After getting the trusses set up the first order of business was to put down the first layer of 5/8 CDX plywood.
You can see the holes cut in the plywood and the intial framing for the skylights at the upper end of each U. I love the curved rear walls but I can already tell that this roof will be a bit more labor intensive than a square one! You can also see the unfinished parapet wall on the left. The viga on the right will support the greenhouse structure. Those are 14 inch peeled vigas. They are attached to the bond beam using 5/8 rebar drilled and pounded into the wood blocks embedded in the bond beam. Two pieces of rebar on each end of each viga. Then 1 inch foundation strap is wrapped and secured around each end and fastened to the bond beam. Later we will install braces from the front truss to the viga.
Once the initial framing of the greenhouse was completed we could put
down the initial 5/8 plywood decking over the 2x12 joists that make up the roof deck over the greehouse. After that the main cricket is added to direct the water into the two cisterns on each end of the house
Were about finished with the cricket below.
Here's the view from the other end. You can see some of the bracing from the truss to the viga I mentioned earlier. If you look closely at the lower edge of the exposed truss you can see the
electrical wiring being run from the Utility room to the 3 U's. The trusses make for a very convenient wire run.
The systems room is the oddly shaped structure at the end of the
greenhouse. The water heater will mount to the side facing right(south).
Next comes 4 inches of foam insulation, celutex, and then EPDM and pro
panel roofing. I didn't get any pictures of the underlayment unfortunately. You'll just have to trust me when I say it was the most
interesting roof I have ever built. After the cricket was finished we first framed the front portion from where the west parapet wall ends around
the front to the east parapet wall with 4.5 inch x 2 inch fir. this is the edge that surrounds the insulation. Then make good long lasting marks on the
perimeter walls where the trusses are. You'll need to know this when you install the plywood strips later. Then one layer of tar paper was glued and
stapled over the entire roof. All edges were sealed and all staples were nailed thru glue. Then two layers of 2 inch solid foam insulation was glued
down to the tar paper. All gaps were sealed with the foam-in -a-can. The seams for the top layer are offset so they donut line up with the seams in
the bottom layer. Then over the area where you will use EPDM you lay down 5/8 fiberboard. This is a black asphalt impregnated wood product.
All around the edge of the roof you lay down 6 inch wide strips of 5/8 cdx plywood. Where the Propanel will be installed you lay down 6 inch wide
strips of 5/8 cdx plywood. These strips must be attached to the trusses below the foam. This is where you will use those marks you made earlier. Between the plywood strips you lay down 5/8 fiber board..
Here is picture showing the plywood strips attached to the trusses below
with the fiberboard between them. in the bottom of the picture you can see where we have glued down the EPDM. The 5 gallon yellow can is the
special EPDM cement used to glue it down. It is a contact cement that is the strongest and stickiest stuff I have ever seen! I had to get a gallon of
regular contact cement to finish up above the skylights and it wasn't a quarter as sticky or string as this stuff. You can see the beginnings if the
skylight box in the middle. In the lower right hand corner you can see where I used a 4x8 sheet of plywood to deck the roof instead of the fiberboard. I used plywood on both ends of the roof where you climb up
from the cistern. Seems like you need it to be a bit more durable there.
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We are ready for Pro panel now! Below we are cutting the panel to fit the U's. The round portion of the roof really adds a lot of time to all phases of
the job. Just tell the folks where you purchase the propanel that your installing it onto 5/8 cdx and they will sell you the correct screws. You can
see how the plywood strips are spaced nicely for installing the panels. The trusses were installed on 2 foot centers, so the plywood strips match that spacing.
The skylights add a little wrinkle to the process. You cricket the high side
to get the water to drain away from them. Trying to seal that with propanel could probably be done, but it would be very difficult. The plans
called for cement. I don't like the idea of cementing over the propanel, so I decided to use EPDM in those three spots.
Below you can see the area above the living room U skylight is ready for
EPDM. The skylight box is ready for paint, its been clad with galvanized sheet metal. The cricket is finished and the edged of the plywood are
softened by gluing a strip of EPDM over them. The hole above the cricket in the roof is for the wood stove. You can see the layers in the
roof if you look closely. The roll of EPDM is waiting for me to get more glue.
Once we got the EPDM glued down above each of the skylight boxes we
fabricated the skylights and got them ready to mount. The wood is treated 2x6, the window portion is a commercial 2x4 plastic double glazed
dome type skylight from Home Depot. The box attached the the right will be filled with cement or rocks to balance the unit once its mounted.
Well here's the finished product. I used "Snow Roof" hand tinted by me
to match the propanel for painting the EPDM. SSA recommends a highly overpriced product that isn't even UL approved for catch water to paint the roofs. Home Depot carries Snow Roof and it is UL approved for catch
water systems. Its 1/4 the cost of the stuff SSA uses. Maybe they have changed there minds. Home Depot will not tint it, because they can't guarantee the color match and some loser made them eat a big batch of
the stuff they tinted. They will sell you the tint base for really cheap and you can tint it yourself. It is holding up very well so far. Time will tell.
Sealing around the parapet wall was a challenge. SSA once again
recommended using cement. Since I donut like cementing over Propanel for numerous reasons I looked for an alternative. The roofing company
ABC that sold me the EPDM also sells EPDM tape. Its 6 inches wide, has a sticky side(very sticky) and lasts as long as EPDM(50 years). So I
finished the parapet wall and then taped the seam all the way around. 3 inches up on the wall, 3 inches over the propanel. We had to really work
at it to get all the air bubbles out but it seems to be holding. It was also painted with the Snow Roof, so its almost invisible. Idon;t have any pictures yet of that but Ill try to get some up here later.
Now to take a side track to building the Greenhouse.
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